• Manuscripts submitted for publication shall be refereed by academically distinguished and professional scholars.
• The referee should be ranked higher than the author ( in the case of single author, or multiple authors), but should not be lower than assistant professor in any case.
• The referee shall make his/her opinion in writing pursuant to the following aspects:

• The quality of ideas in terms of authenticity and scientific significance
• Whether or not the manuscript makes a new contribution to knowledge
• The methodology used by the author
• The overall analysis of data and ideas
• To what extent the author has adhered to the norms of academic documentation and intellectual property rights of others
• Whether the manuscript is valuable to relevant researchers and students
• The logical and objective order of the contents
• Linguistic accuracy and fluency

• The Academic Publication Board will solicit the arbitration of a manuscript by at least two referees, and possibly a third one in case the manuscript has been turned down by either of them; the author will be informed of the referees’ decision.
• If the author, in a single or multiple authorship, works at the Sultan Qaboos University, one of the referees should come from another university and be no lower in rank than the other referee.

• Members of the Academic Publication Board are entitled to make an initial examination of the manuscript and determine its suitability for arbitration; the opinions of referees will be considered when making a final decision by the Board.
• The Academic Publication Board may inform the author of a rejected work about the decisions made by the referees, when needed, but without disclosing their names nor any obligation to respond to appeals by the author.
• The manuscript will be considered as withdrawn if the author fails to address the necessary modifications within three months from the date the author received the decision from the Academic Publication Board, unless there should be some compelling reasons.
• The Academic Publication Board may produce paper or electronic reprints of any manuscript during the first three years from the date the manuscript was first published, without the author’s approval.      

• The Academic Publication Board shall inform the manuscript’s author as to its suitability for publishing within two weeks from the time the referees’ decisions arrive.
• The author can only re-publish the publication three years after it has been published by the university; for that, the author should seek permission from the Board and make a mention of the source in the reprint.

The following measures will be taken were the author not adhering to the agreement:

1. If it comes to the attention of the Academic Publication Board that the author has published the manuscript before, during or after submitting it to the Board, it may refuse future requests by the concerned author for publishing through the Board.
2. If the author falls short of introducing the changes suggested by the referees and the Academic Publication Board, or withdraws the manuscript prior to publication, he/she will be liable to pay the fees of arbitration, mailing, and other university expenses.